Best Diet Busters

Editors' Pick

Whether you’re congratulating or commiserating, sometimes you want to indulge. Here are four dishes that are worth the caloric splurge.

Russo’s Tower

Three stories of prime deli meat make up Russo’s Tower, a behemoth of a sandwich named after co-owner Eric Heckman’s neighborhood pal Charlie Russo and his 6-foot-5-inch frame. “He’s half Italian, half Jewish, and eats like no one I know,” Heckman says. House-baked rye separates layers of corned beef, turkey and pastrami (all made in-house) for a total of 10 ounces of meat, plus Swiss cheese and coleslaw.

After you try the duck nachos at Gringos & Mariachis, you’ll be convinced that chicken is the paltry poultry for south of the border cuisine. An order comes with six crispy mini tortillas topped with shredded duck that’s been braised in orange juice as well as Chihuahua cheese, radish, jalapeño, sour cream and cilantro. This same preparation is popular in Puebla, Mexico, which chef Miguel Linares calls home. The secret to each satisfying bite: Linares leaves the skin on.

This is the kind of dish that can take you back to childhood state fairs and baseball games, when calories were something only adults worried about. “It’s fat-free until you eat it,” Urban Bar-B-Que co-owner Dave Calkins says. An order consists of two fried all-beef corn dogs smothered in “Redneck Fondue” (a three-cheese dip blended with smoky, brisket-studded chili) and topped with more cheese and green onions. “We’re classically trained chefs used to eating junk food that satisfies late night hunger,” Calkins says.